- ; Gross, Sally-Anne and Klein, Maike. 2024. The dark side of optimism: Musical dreams, belief, and gambling. Musicae Scientiae, 28(4), pp. 634-648. ISSN 1029-8649
- Kaasgaard, Mette; Grebosz-Haring, Katarzyna; Davies, Christina; ; Shiriraam, Jahnusha; McCrary, J. Matt and Clift, Stephen. 2024. Is it premature to formulate recommendations for policy and practice, based on culture and health research? A robust critique of the CultureForHealth (2022) report. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1414070. ISSN 2296-2565
- Clift, Stephen; Bathke, Arne; Davies, Christina; Daffern, Helena; Grebosz-Haring, Katarzyna; Kaasgaard, Mette; McCrary, J. Matt; and Thun-Hohenstein, Leonard. 2024. The WHO-Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts: A Response to Sajnani and Fietje. The Lancet, 403(10434), P1335. ISSN 0140-6736
- ; Howard, Charlie; Schofield, Amy; Silver, Emma and Tibber, Marc S. 2023. Mental health the music industry: An evolving intervention landscape. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(5), pp. 311-313. ISSN 2215-0366
- Loveday, Catherine; and Gross, Sally-Anne. 2023. Predicting anxiety, depression and wellbeing in professional and non-professional musicians. Psychology of Music, 51(2), pp. 508-522. ISSN 0305-7356
- . 2023. Music and wellbeing vs. musicians鈥� wellbeing: examining the paradox of music-making positively impacting wellbeing, but musicians suffering from poor mental health. Cultural Trends, 32(3), pp. 280-295. ISSN 0954-8963
- . 2023. Musicians, their relationships, and their wellbeing: Creative labour, relational work. Poetics, 96, 101762. ISSN 0304-422X
- Clift, Stephen; Daffern, Helena; Davies, Christina; Grebosz-Haring, Katarzyna; Kaasgaard, Mette; McCrary, J. Matt and . 2022. Culture for Health? Arts Professional,
- Leisewitz, Adrian and . 2022. Does Spotify Create Attachment? Algorithmic Playlists, Intermediation and the Artist-Fan Relationship. Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 14(1), pp. 75-100. ISSN 2000-1525
- Chaparro, Gerardo and . 2021. Moral Music Management: Ethical Decision-Making After Avicii. International Journal of Music Business Research, 10(1), pp. 3-16. ISSN 2227-5789
- Athanassiou, D and . 2021. Building a Heavy Metal World: Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Polish People鈥檚 Republic. Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, 10(1), pp. 1-19. ISSN 2164-7747
- . 2020. Avicii: True Stories - Review. Dancecult Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, 12(1), pp. 94-97. ISSN 1947-5403
- . 2019. Making Sense of My Creativity: Reflecting on Digital Autoethnography. Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, 13(1), pp. 1-11. ISSN 1832 鈥� 0465
- . 2017. Collaborating to Compete: The Role of Cultural Intermediaries in Hypercompetition. International Journal of Music Business Research, 6(2), pp. 41-68. ISSN 2227-5789
Dr George Musgrave
Staff details
Position
Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology and Creative Industries
Department
Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship
g.musgrave (@gold.ac.uk)
Links
Interdisciplinary sociologist of culture, researching musicians' psychosocial working lives
George is an interdisciplinary sociologist of culture, researching musicians' psychosocial working lives. His specialism concerns the psychological experiences and working conditions of creative careers, with a focus on mental health and wellbeing in the music industry. He has collaboratively undertaken two major funded research projects - 'Can Music Make You Sick?' (UK) and 鈥榃hen Music Speaks鈥� (Denmark) - on mental health and the music industry. The book of the former was an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller in the Sociology of Work. His research has been published in world-leading journals across multiple disciplines including medicine/health (The Lancet, The Lancet Psychiatry, Frontiers in Public Health), music psychology (Musicae Scientiae, Psychology of Music) and social sciences/cultural studies (Poetics, Cultural Trends). He is regularly invited to speak internationally on the subject and has appeared on media including BBC News, BBC Radio 4, Times Radio and the Financial Times.
Academic qualifications
- PhD: ESRC funded - The Centre for Competition Policy (UEA) 2014
- MA: Politics, Philosophy and Economics 2010
- MA (Cantab): Social and Political Science, University of Cambridge 2009
Teaching and supervision
PhDs supervised to completion:
- Dr. Steven Sparling (2021) (now Head of Department for Creative and Cultural Industries, Kingston University)
George welcomes PhD proposals from students who wish to combine a focus on psychology, sociology and/or economics in relation to creative markets. He is currently supervising seven doctoral projects on:
- Music careers and social class (alongside Prof. Ros Gill, ICCE/MCCS)
- Musicians' wellbeing and identity (alongside Dr. Madoka Kumashiro, Psychology)
- Arts in the treatment of addiction (alongside Dr. Andrew Cooper, Psychology)
- Burnout in the TV industry (alongside Dr. Rebecca Chamberlain, Psychology)
- Flow states in musicians (alongside Prof. Jan De Fockert, Pyschology)
- Grass-roots music and neurodivergence (alongside Prof. Holly Rogers, Music) (Sept. 2025)
- Representations of the Tortured Artist and Experiences of Suffering (alongside Dr. Katie Beswick, ICCE) (Sept. 2025)
George has, to date, supervised 68 MA dissertations to completion.
He is ICCE's Chair of Examinations. He has previously Chaired the ICCE Undergraduate Learning and Teaching Committee and led 'Student Voice' within the department.
He has also worked internationally, having been a guest lecturer at New York University -delivering sessions in the Clive Davies Institute of Recorded Music (Tisch School of the Arts) and the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development (NYU London) - and as an external academic advisor at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences in Oslo, Norway.
He teaches both optional and compulsory modules across the following programmes of study (among others):
Research interests
George's research led directly to the establishment of a 24/7 mental health helpline for musicians - Music Minds Matter - in 2017. His research has been featured by media outlets including BBC News, The New York Times, Pitchfork, GQ, The FT, The Grammys, Billboard & more. His work has been cited as informing the development of global therapeutic & public health interventions as well by the UK Government's Department for Culture Media and Sport as part of the 'Creative Industries Sector Vision'. He appears regularly for media outlets including BBC News & BBC Radio 4.
His research has been awarded funding by a range of stakeholders including UKRI (ESRC), Government (Mayor of London) the third sector (Help Musicians UK), and the international music industries (Danish Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music). His findings have formed the basis of evidence which has been cited by the UK House of Commons Women and Equalities Commission, and the House of Lords.
His second book is a sociological examination of music-making as a practice of narrative identity construction entitled 'The England No One Cares About: Lyrics from Suburbia' (MIT Press / Goldsmiths Press, 2024). The book was an Amazon Top 10 Best Seller in Music Philosophy upon release and named 'Book of the Month' by Crack Magazine.
He is also a musician who has signed both major recording & publishing deals with EMI/Sony/ATV, and received over 1 million views on YouTube. His music has earned support from the likes of Mike Skinner, Plan B, Ellie Goulding & Ed Sheeran, and he has been labelled 'Middle England's Poet Laureate' by BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra DJ MistaJam. Prior to signing to his record deal, he was the first ever unsigned artist to win a place on the MTV 'Brand New' list alongside Lana Del Rey & Charli XCX, & has played at festivals including Reading, Leeds, Wireless and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. He has MC'd for global acts including Andy C, Shy FX, Rusko, SpectraSoul, Plastician & Benga.
Grants and awards
2024:
Co-PI. Funding: Danish Partnership for Sustainable for Development in Music. Four-part project - survey, review of models, interviews, recommendations. Largest ever study in Scandinavia on the topic
2020:
Co-PI. Funding awarded by Lewisham Council and Creative Enterprise Zone (Mayor of London) to explore the lives of local creative practitioners and make recommendations for the development of the CEZ
2019:
Co-I. Internally funded, interdisciplinary project exploring the determinants of anxiety and depression among professional and non-professional musicians
2016:
Co-I. Funding: Help Musicians to study rates of mental health conditions among UK musicians, identify potential causes and make recommendations. Led to the launch of 'Music Minds Matter'.
2012:
Co-I. Project entitled 'Copyright at the Digital Margins' (Work Package Code 4C.2)
2010: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Full Doctoral Studentship
Publications and research outputs
Book
- . 2024. The England No One Cares About: Lyrics from Suburbia. London: Goldsmiths Press. ISBN 9781913380663
- Gross, Sally-Anne and . 2020. Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition. London: University of Westminster Press. ISBN 9781912656646
Book Section
- . 2026. Songwriting and Career Musicianship as a Technology of the Self: Autosociobiographical Reflections on Music and Wellbeing. In: Mark Donnelly and Richard Mills, eds. Song, Music and Wellbeing. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
- Reddington, Jamie and . 2026. 鈥榃hat Is It That We鈥檙e Doing Here?鈥�: Pedagogical Tensions, Uncertainties and Reflexivity in Higher Popular Music Education. In: Guy Morrow and Carsten Winter, eds. Music Ecosystems: Opportunities and Challenges. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
- . 2024. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire: Music Education, Mental Health, and Our Students鈥� Futures. In: David Arditi and Ryan Nolan, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Music Industry Studies. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 119-135. ISBN 9783031640124
Article
- ; Gross, Sally-Anne and Carney, Daniel. 2025. Determinants of Anxiety, Depression and Subjective Wellbeing among Musicians in Denmark: Findings from the 鈥榃hen Music Speaks鈥� Project. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 66(3), pp. 429-445. ISSN 0036-5564
- and Lamis, Dorian. 2025. Suicide, the music industry, and a call to action. Frontiers Science News (Health),
- and Lamis, Dorian. 2025. Musicians, the music industry, and suicide: Epidemiology, risk factors, and suggested prevention approaches. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1507772. ISSN 2296-2565
Conference or Workshop Item
- and Gross, Sally-Anne. 2018. 'Music Minds Matter: Where Do We Go From Here?'. In: BBC Introducing LIVE. London, Tobacco Docks. 8 November 2018.
- . 2017. 'Control and Autonomy in the Digital Music Business'. In: The 8th Vienna Music Business Research Days. University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria 12-14 September 2017.
Broadcast
- Nomvula, Amy; Day, Sam; and Gross, Sally. 2018. Can Music Make You Sick: The Pitfalls of the Music Industry.
Professional Activity
- ; Brand, Jessica; ; and . 2024. Submission of evidence to the UK Parliament's Business and Trade Select Committee 'Make Work Pay: Employment Rights Bill' Inquiry.
- ; ; ; and . 2022. Submission of evidence to the UK Parliament House of Lords 鈥楢 Creative Future鈥� Inquiry.
- Gross, Sally-Anne and . 2022. Submission of evidence to the UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee 'Misogyny in Music' Inquiry.
Report
- ; Gross, Sally-Anne and Carney, Daniel. 2024. When Music Speaks - Mental Health and Next Steps in the Danish Music Industry. Part 3 - Danish Music Creators' Working Lives and Mental Health Wants. Project Report. Danish Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- and Gross, Sally-Anne. 2024. When Music Speaks - Mental Health and Next Steps in the Danish Music Industry. Part 4 - Final Recommendations. Project Report. Danish Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- ; Gross, Sally-Anne and Carney, Daniel. 2024. When Music Speaks: Mental Health and Next Steps in the Danish Music lndustry. Part 2 - A Review of Models of Musicians' Mental Health Interventions. Project Report. Danish Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Media engagements
2025:
Featured story on my co-authored publication 'Musicians, the music industry, and suicide'
2024:
Invited live onto BBC News following the tragic death of musician Liam Payne
2024:
Invited to speak on Times Radio with Henry Bonsu about mental health and music
2024:
2024:
鈥楪eorge Musgrave鈥檚 new book contextualises rap in Middle England鈥�
2024:
Interview to discuss paper 鈥楾he dark side of optimism鈥�
2024:
2024:
Special guest to discuss music, mental health and why bands break up
2024:
Podcast recorded live on stage from Eurosonic Festival, Groningen
2023:
Podcast interview
2021:
Featured expert in article on mental health and electronic music
2020:
2020:
Interview on the release of new scholarly book
2020:
Live Q&A on Instagram for the organisation SheSaidSo
2018:
Research formed the basis of a BBC Introducing documentary, and was featured as expert guest
2018:
Quoted expert in GQ cover story on the death of Avicii
2018:
2017:
2017:
2017:
Memberships
- Editorial Board: Cultural Trends
- Fellow: Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH)
- Fellow: Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
- Fellow: Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member: International Network for the Critical Appraisal of Arts and Health (based at the Salzburg Institute for Arts in Medicine)
- Committee Member: Royal Musical Association (RMA) Music and Mental Health Group (Research Co-ordinator)
- Member: International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
